Page 89 of Ground Truth

His intense dizziness, headache, and nausea were overwhelming. He could stay inside the hot box no longer.

Flint zipped the body bags and climbed out of the van. Quickly, he closed and locked the back doors. Maybe the body removal technician wouldn’t notice he’d tampered with the lock.

He gave the back of the van one last glance. It seemed okay. Flint hurried back to the door. He took several gulps of cool air into his lungs on the way, attempting to control the dizziness and nausea.

Flint sent the photos and prints to Gaspar’s server. Then he kicked the rock away from the exit door and went inside.

He slipped into the men’s room and washed the grime and stench from his face and hands. As soon as he felt well enough, he made his way to the bar.

The two brothers were still talking quietly. The dining room had filled with more locals. Flint resumed his place and swigged the iced tea, hoping the caffeine would steady his shaking muscles.

Sammy returned with a fresh glass of iced tea for both of them. “You okay, man? You look peaked.”

“Fine. Really. Just low blood sugar,” Flint replied, reaching for a pack of saltines and popping one into his mouth. He took a long swig of the cold tea.

“Yeah, that’s rough. Sorry the food is taking so long. Want me to bring your chowder?” Sammy asked. “The folks at the hospital have their lunch break about now. The kitchen always gets a little backed up.”

“I can wait, Sammy. Thanks,” Flint said, sipping the tea to calm his queasy stomach. “Looks like you do get quite a few hospital employees in here at lunch. Do you know them all?”

“Pretty much. Atabei is a small community. Not many of us. We can spot outsiders pretty quickly.” Sammy smiled.

Drake grinned. “So you mean you didn’t think we were locals?”

“Not hardly,” Sammy replied good-naturedly.

Flint pointed his chin toward the two brothers. “What about those two? Visitors?”

“Not even close. I’ll save you the trouble of asking about everyone here. You’re the only two visitors in the place,” Sammy said. “So who are you looking for? Happy to help.”

Drake glanced around the room. “Because they all want to know, right?”

Sammy shrugged.

“It’s a reasonable question. Strangers come into town. Folks want to know why we’re here.” Flint cocked his head. “Truth is we’re looking for our sister. She disappeared a while back. She told us she was coming here because of Stephen Brand. You know him?”

“Sure. Everybody knows Dr. Brand,” Sammy replied easily. “Did your sister need a heart transplant?”

Drake said, “Actually, we thought she was romantically involved with him. She told us they were dating. We thought they were living here together.”

“That can’t be right.” Sammy frowned. “Dr. Brand has a girlfriend. They have been together quite a while now. You might ask her, though. Genevieve Sweeting, the hospital CEO.”

A young woman brought their food from the kitchen and Sammy left them alone to eat. Sammy came back with fresh iced tea shortly after the two brothers paid their bill and left.

“Those two guys who were sitting over there,” Flint said, tilting his head toward their now abandoned seats. “Who are they?”

Sammy smiled. “Jimmy and Joey. Twins, don’tcha know. Lived here forever.”

“Which one works for the crematorium? Jimmy or Joey?” Flint asked.

“They kinda both do, I guess. Joey’s the one that moves the bodies to be cremated. Jimmy’s an orderly at the hospital morgue,” Sammy explained, cleaning up the plates as his customers finished their lunch breaks and left.

“Hard to believe you have a need for a crematorium here, isn’t it? I mean, this is a small place. Guy can’t have that much business, right?” Drake said.

“It’s not just Atabei residents, though.” Sadness settled across Sammy’s normally pleasant face. “Often, the organ donors don’t make it. Shipping bodies home for burial is expensive and troublesome. The hospital provides the cremation services to the families as a courtesy.”

“A courtesy? You mean they don’t charge anything at all?” Flint asked.

“The families are already grieving. No reason they should be worried about money, too, you know?” Sammy replied as he picked up a big plastic bin filled with dirty dishes and lugged it toward the kitchen.

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